Butcher&#39;s-block scraper.



G. G. BEMIS.

BUTOHER'S BLOCK SCRAPER.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 26, 1909.

Patented Dec. 21, 1909.

UNTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GILBERT C. BEMIS, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO WORCESTER BRUSH &

SCRAPER COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA-CHUSETTS.

BUTCHERS-BLOCK SCRAPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 26, 1909.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, GILBERT C. BEMIs,citizen of the United States, and resident of 'Lynn, in the county ofEssex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement inButchersBlock Scrapers, of which the following description, inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, likenumerals on the drawings reprc seating like parts.

My invention is a scraper capable of general use but particularlyintended for cleaning butchers blocks, and to this end, among itsspecially advantageous features, are that it is made entirely of metaland is entirely open so that it can be perfectly cleaned and sterilizedby boiling, or holding it under a hot water spigot, it is exceedinglyrigid, and is provided with special means for facilitat ing the graspingand manipulating thereof with the hand or hands. Moreover my inventionprovides an exceedingly economical and inexpensive construction.

Among the features which render the brush rigid and durable, aside fromthe fact already mentioned that it is made entirely of metal, are thatthe brush comprises a series of sections each containing a plurality ofspring teeth integrally united, the teeth are larger at the base, or inother words, are made tapering and more springy toward their free ends,thereby securing strength and also additional springiness at the workingend, Which tends to prevent breaking and adds life to the brush, theteeth are arranged in successive sections so as to alternatelongitudinally and are so stamped and constructed that they arenecessarily even at their scraping ends, thereby keeping the blocksmooth and even, the base ends of the teeth and sections are housed by aremovable cover which overhangs and serves the double purpose of bracingthe brush and giving a firm and convenient handhold, end stitfeners areprovided prefeably attached directly and permanently to the article.

The constructional details and further advantages of the constructionand use of my invention will appear more fully in the course of thefollowing description considered with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which I have shown a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents the brush in side elevation, partlybroken away for clearness of illustration; Fig. 2 is a bottom plan viewthereof; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 3-3 Fig. 2; Fig. 4shows the relative arrangement of the scraper teeth and theirarrangement for stamping; and Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional detail ofa modified construction.

Bearing in mind that in a tool which is to be used in connection withmeat it is essen tial that the tool shall be clean and hygienic at alltimes, and I have succeeded in securing the desired rigidity andopenness of construction entirely free from corners and lodging placeswhich would accumulate foul matter, by providing a practically two-partbrush consisting of a shell-like cover 1 which is simply sprung downover the rest of the brush and readily removed therefrom, and a brushbody comprising essentially sections 2, 3, and skeleton holding meanstherefor, preferably consisting of rods 4: and spacing sleeves orferrules 5. By reason of this construction the brush can be cleanedquickly and fully simply by slipping otf the cover and holding the brushunder a spigot or swashing it back and forth in a bucket of water,inasmuch as the water is free to pass through the brush in directforcible contactwith every point of the entire structure inasmuch asthere are no angular surfaces to catch and hold scrapings against theimpact of the water. As is most readily seen in Fig. 3, the teeth of thesuccessive sections alternate in position so that the teeth of thesection 3 occupy the spaces between the teeth of the section 2. Also theteeth are taper ing or larger at their upper or base ends, therebyavoiding the tendency common in metal brushes to crystallize and breakadjacent their base. By making the teeth tapering the bending point islowered nearer to the scraping end. Moreover this shape of tooth givesadditional springiness at the scraping end, which increases theefficiency besides adding to the life of the brush. At their upper endsthe teeth are united integrally by a transverse plate portion 6 punchedto receive transverse rods 4, as best shown in Figs. 2, 3. Thesuccessive plates 2, 3, (alternating as explained) are secured at theirupper opposite corners by the rods 4.- and held unyieldingly apart bysleeves 5 as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Preferably also a centralhole 7 is provided for receiving a similar rod and sleeves down themiddle of the brush when the latter is extra long or needs specialbracing, but for ordinary use the preferred construction as shown inFigs. 1, 2 and 3, is suflicient. At intervals throughout the length ofthe brush I provide extension plates 8, which extend beyond the adjacentends of the teeth sections, and at the opposite ends of the brush Ipreferably provide depending end-stiffeners 9 as best shown in Figs. 1and 3, said stiffeners being for convenience formed as a part of theextension plates 8. hen all the parts are assembled as described, thebolts 1 are riveted or otherwise secured at their opposite ends so as tohold the assembled parts relatively immovable.

The cover 1 is made of stiff sheet metal having its side edges bentdownwardly at 10 to constitute flanges, preferably about as deep as thewidth of the extension members 8. These flanges are so cut and bent thatthey are slightly inclined or bulged outwardly at 11 at the longitudinalsides, and being made of spring metal they hold themselves automaticallyin place when shoved over the rounded ends of the members 8 and yet arecapable of springing sufficiently to permit the cover to be pulled offfrom the body of the brush. The overhanging or bulging constructionprovided by the cover and the cooperating extensions 8 gives anexceedingly firm and convenient handhold for the grasping of the brushby the hand. The described construction keeps the cover side stiff.Further rigidity is secured by having the end-stiffeners preferablyriveted directly to the body of the brush across the end and extendingdownwardly a short distance. End movement of the cover is prevented andfurther rigidity secured by stops or stopstifl'eners l2 riveted to theunderside of the top or horizontal part of the cover, so placed as tobind against the ends of the brush part. The parts 12 are preferably setin slightly from the ends of the cover.

While the primary object of having the teeth alternate as shown in Fig.3 is to insure the uniform and complete scraping of the butchers block,it also facilitates the economical stamping out of the sections asclearly shown in Fig. 4, where it will be seen that the teeth interlockso as to utilize all the metal of the plate from which they are stamped.By using stamped plates held together by rods through the similarlypunched holes, the result is that the scraping ends of the teeth areabsolutely level or all terminate in one and the same plane, so thatthey scrape the block smooth and even. This is of much practicalimportance.

While I prefer the construction thus far described, I wish it understoodthat my invention is capable of various modifications without departingfrom the spirit and scope thereof. For instance, in Fig. 5 I have showninstead of the side frame rods, the successive sections riveted togetherin pairs by shouldered rivets 13, 1a, and rod 15 passing through themiddle. This is a preferable construction for some purposes, especiallyif the brush isto be long or extra large, and accordingly I commonlystamp the plates with the requisite holes 16 therefor, as indicated inFig. 3.

In use, the brush is conveniently and firmly grasped by the cover, thefingers and thumb being free to bend around the overhanging or roundededges of said cover and grasp against the depending flanges thereofbelow said rounded or bulging portion. By reason of the specialconstruction of the teeth and sections the teeth all terminate in oneand the same plane and stand staggered with relation to each otherlongitudinally of the brush, so that the block is readily kept clean,even, and smooth thereby and the brush readily ground or sharpened.After each scraping of the block the cover is sprung off from the brushproper and the brush is held under the hot water spigot therebyinstantly cleaning and sterilizing the same as the water is free tostrike against each part of the brush. The round sleevelike surfaces 5prevent any clinging of material thereto the water drives the scrap ingsthrough the open work of the frame.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is,

1. A block scraper, comprising a series of resilient teeth spaced apartand rigidly held together, holding means therefor, and a removable coverhaving depending spring-engaging portions for springing into holdingengagement wlth the scraper over the upper ends of said resilient teeth,said cover having outwardly bulging longitudinal portions adjacent theopposite upper corners of the scraper, and the latter having projectingportions adapted to fit snugly into said bulging portions.

2. A block scraper, composed of a plurality of separate sections bracedapart, each section comprising a series of separate teeth integrallyunited at their base by a plate-like portion of the section, said teethbeing thin, freely resilient, extending upwardly about two-thirds'thedepth of the section, and all the teeth of all the sections terminatingin wide transverse scraping ends all lying in one and the same plane.

3. A block scraper, composed of a plurality of separate sections bracedapart, and provided lengthwise of the scraper with hand-hold means forbeing moved longitudinally, each section comprising a series of separateteeth integrally united at their base by a plate-like portion of thesection extending transversely of the length of the scraper, said teethbeing uniform in thickness lengthwise, long and tapered, larger at thebase where they join said plate-like portion, and composed of springmaterial having their greatest resiliency adjacent their free ends, thelatter being square and lying all in one level for simultaneouslycutting and scraping a butchers block to a level surface.

4:. A block scraper, having longitudinal hand holds along its oppositesides to be grasped by the hand for pulling and pushing the scraperlengthwise to cut and scrape a butchers block to a level surface, aseries of parallel plate-like sections braced apart and extendingtransversely of said scraper and hand holds, each section containingsimilar resilient teeth extending upwardly for the greater part of theheight of said section and having square-ended cutting extremities alllying in one and the same horizontal plane, the successive sectionshaving their said square cutting ends arranged in staggered order withrelation to each other viewing the scraper lengthwise, whereby when thescraper is pulled or pushed in the direction of its hand holds, the endsof all of said teeth unite in sc 'aping the entire area simultaneouslyto an even surface.

5. A block scraper, composed of a plurality of separate sections bracedapart, each section comprising a series of separate teeth integrallyunited at their base by a platelike portion of the section, said teethbeing longer than the depth of the plate-like portion, tapered, largerat the base where they join said plate-like portion, uniform inthickness throughout their length, and having wide transverse cuttingends, all lying in one and the same plane, and a removable cover havingtransverse end-stiffeners 12 spaced apart to prevent relativelongitudinal movement of the cover and scraper while permitting thecover to be crowded straight down upon the top of the scraper, saidcover having depending spring edges shaped to engage and clamp over thelongitudinal sides of the scraper for holding the brush in place.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GILBE 11 C. BICMIS.

\Vitnesses M. J. SraLmNc, EDWARD MAXWELL.

